Spoon Thai...has it changed????

Last night we ate at Spoon Thai and it seemed very different than usual. We consider ourselves "regulars" there, but have not been in about 3 months. We were so excited about it and then when the food came, everything was a little off.

The Tom Yum had so much red pepper flakes in it it was almost unedible (and we're not afraid of the heat), the fried chicken didn't come with the amazing sweet sauce that always accompanied it (and our waitress had no idea what we were talking about when describing it), and the beef laarb didn't have the same flavor as usual.

We're wondering if the owners changed??? The menu is the same, but the food wasn't. Maybe it was just an "off" night.

Has anyone else noticed anything?

Funny you say that. After a long day at the office yesterday, recently delivered Spoon Thai was waiting for me at home. I commented that everything was even better than usual.

Here's what we had: ground pork phat kra prow, tofu penang curry, chinese broccoli w/ pla tun (fermented Thai mackerel); hoa mok, sticky rice w/ mango. The hoa mok and penang stood out as a little "lighter" tasting than usual, which I thought was nice.

The lack of sauce with the chicken is strange. Maybe you got a new and inexperienced server. I'd say it wasn't an off night in the kitchen (at least not a consistently off night) based on our food.

Ashley wrote:the fried chicken didn't come with the amazing sweet sauce that always accompanied it (and our waitress had no idea what we were talking about when describing it),

Ashley,

Frankly, I have no idea what you are talking about either. I have had the Thai Fried Chicken at Spoon Thai often, it is one of my favorite dishes, and it (Spoon's Thai Fried Chicken) has never, as in not once, been served with an "amazing sweet sauce"

Spoon's Thai Fried Chicken sauce, which I adore, is slightly sour from tamarind, spicy/hot from chopped fresh chili and texturally interesting from ground toasted rice. In other words, a lovely combination of salty, sour, spicy, with the merest hint of sweet.

Enjoy,
Gary

G Wiv wrote:
Spoon's Thai Fried Chicken sauce, which I adore, is slightly sour from tamarind, spicy/hot from chopped fresh chili and texturally interesting from ground toasted rice. In other words, a lovely combination of salty, sour, spicy, with the merest hint of sweet.

Enjoy,
Gary

It's been served with that same sauce the past couple times I've had it, most recently about 3 weeks ago.

Yum.

G Wiv wrote:Spoon's Thai Fried Chicken sauce, which I adore, is slightly sour from tamarind, spicy/hot from chopped fresh chili and texturally interesting from ground toasted rice. In other words, a lovely combination of salty, sour, spicy, with the merest hint of sweet.

Gary,

I understood what Ashley meant. "Sweet" may have been somewhat misapplied (in that, as you mention, there's a lot going on in that sauce besides sweet), but I think we know what sauce she's talking about.

It does sound like maybe Ashley got Spoon on a bad night -- we must admit, it's always possible to hit a good place on a bad night, and it's also possible for great places to slip downhill (I'm not at all suggesting that Spoon is doing so, but the possibility always exists).

I've got a date at Spoon with some friends for the weekend after next (and I've been talking the place up big time), so I'm interested to know about the current state of food there (as I haven't been for a few months).

Hammond

Hammond,
Glad someone had an idea of what I was talking about. I swear I'm not crazy. Last night's sauce was spicy, spicy, spicy- nothing sweet about it. Anyway...it wasn't just about the fried chicken. It was overall a not-on night. Like you said though, hopefully they were just having an off Tuesday.

Will look forward to hearing how your journey is there. Please give feedback.

Ashley wrote:Hammond,
Glad someone had an idea of what I was talking about. I swear I'm not crazy. Last night's sauce was spicy, spicy, spicy- nothing sweet about it. Anyway...it wasn't just about the fried chicken. It was overall a not-on night. Like you said though, hopefully they were just having an off Tuesday.

Will look forward to hearing how your journey is there. Please give feedback.

Maybe they thought you were thai Or figured you were ready for some real heat, at least..